Above a deep chasm of sound, a tiny whir comes and goes. It’s like a surveillance drone flitting here and there, keeping its eye — and, more importantly, its ear — on the surroundings, and only making its own presence noticeable when it gets just too close. At which point it veers away. Then human [...]
Non-denominational holiday music — Akira Rabelais’s contribution to that growing field is available for free download through Christmas (MP3). The track is a mix of material that originated on his album Spellewauerynshere, which was a set of processed renditions of recordings of traditional Icelandic vocal music released a few years back on David Sylvian’s label, [...]
Repetition is a powerful force. The opening track on Hopen’s What’s Happened to Mat Collishaw? may prove too powerful for some. It’s a tight loop of a voice. The voice says, “New York City.” This being a loop, the voice, which could be that of a train conductor or bus driver, says it again. And [...]
Once upon a time, there was a dynamic in pop music in which loud and quiet sections alternated within a given song. That scenario is often tracked back to the Pixies (and, a little later, Nirvana). In contemporary electronic music, there is a scenario in which a drone changes amplitude — or volume, that is [...]
Philly hip-hop producer WHY?Arcka has uploaded one of his strongest beats yet, the elegant dissection of rhythm and soul that is “Street Walkin’ (Gone).” The track has been entered in as Exhibit G at arckatron.bandcamp.com, his ongoing A-to-Z of abstract instrumental beats, deeply felt crate digging, and all around metric ingenuity.
As is WHY?Arcka’s mode, [...]
There’s no need for a Zen koan about grounded and ungrounded wires. We know full well that an ungrounded wire will make a sound — a sound not unlike the earthy drone with which Geronymakis chose to open his recent release, Hupnos, on the Dark Winter label. It’s a heavy, warm drone, very much the [...]
Dance music that makes you want to stand still and pay attention — that’s what’s at the heart of so-called IDM, or intelligent dance music. It’s music with a groove, with a beat — it’s music that employs all manner of club mannerisms, but does so with an emphasis on detail that rewards headphones more [...]